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I lay in the hammock, one foot dangling and pushing off of the ground to rock me. I don't know where Eros got the hammocks from, but it's a perfect day to use them. I close my book and look over at Eros, planning on telling him so.
The sight that greets me brings a smile to my face. Eros is unable to reach the ground from his hammock. He's resorted to furiously pumping his legs in order to make his hammock swing. Dang. He is short and it totally shows.
"I thought," he pants, "hammocks were 'posed to be relaxin'." With a sigh of defeat, he flops over in the barely moving hammock.
"They are relaxing," a familiar voice calls. "If you're not a dwarf!"
"I'm three inches shorter than you! That does NOT make me a dwarf, Flynn von Stretch. Compa'ed to Will you're a dwarf!"
I flush as I hear my name pulled back into the never ending height argument. I duck my head back into my book. Eros is a little sensitive about his height, and Flynn is, well, Flynn.
"What does that make you to Will?" Flynn retorts. "A gnat? A flea? Those would both be a dwarf to a dwarf."
"Nah," I interrupt, face lilac. "He's more like a pixie or an imp, where you're just a dwarf."
"Yeah, but I'm your dwarf!" Flynn leans over my hammock, smiling directly in front of my face. "Besides, I don't mind being shorter than Will; I fit better in his arms this way."
The purple tint in my cheeks darkens. Why would he want to fit in my arms? Why would anyone want to fit in my arms?
"Whatev. I'm still not a dwarf." Though I can't see him, I can tell Eros has crossed his arms and is pouting.
"Keep telling yourself that, Short Stop." Flynn teases. My hammock rocks more jerkily as he climbs up beside me. "Mind if I squeeze in, Swizzle Stick?"
I smile, cheeks still purple. Does he have to be so cute? "Sure?" The word shoots out like a question.
"Good, cause no wasn't an option." Flynn's body shifts, sinking right next to mine. I can feel his whole side, warm against mine.
"What do I do!?" My brain screams silently. The boy of my dreams is pressing against my body, and I'm having trouble breathing. My hands awkwardly clasp my book as all rational thought shuts down.
Flynn shifts, laying his head on my chest. "This is better. Much better." He nuzzles in a little closer. "But your heart is going so fast." To my dismay, he starts counting along with it.
Eros laughed. "Do it really be going that fast?"
Thankfully, Eros can't see my fuchsia face, but if Flynn shifts ever so slightly, it would be all he saw.
"Actually it's faster than that, but I can't keep up with it. I'd rather nap." Flynn yawns, as if to prove his point.
"Yeah being that attractive must be pretty tiring." I whisper, in a horrible attempt to flirt. The words aren't even out of my mouth all the way before I regret them.
Flynn's head shifts and now I'm staring directly into those deep green pools that he has in the place of eyes. "You must be absolutely exhausted then."
My face heats up, past the identifiable shades of purple. "What'd'ya-mean?"
"Well if my looks are enough to make someone tired, yours would be even more so." Flynn winks.
"Sh-shut up."
"Make me." Flynn wiggled his eyebrows, and I can't help looking at his lips.
Gosh I want to kiss him. I settle for a quick peck on his forehead.
Flynn gives me a confused look. "You missed."
"What?"
"You missed!" Flynn pulls my face closer. Suddenly his lips are on mine and he is kissing me. It's one of the best kisses we've ever shared, and I'm struggling to figure out where my lips end and his begin.
"Get a room guys! I'm still single ya know!" Eros' voice is joking, but still enough to make me flush harder. I quickly pull my lips away from Flynn's.
Flynn rolls his eyes and lays his head on my shoulder. "I mean Will has a room. It just still wouldnt be away from you. But fine. Whatcha reading Will?" He asks.
I push off the ground again, embarrassed to have been asked. I am such a geek. Why couldn't I have interesting reading tastes? "It's-'The-Soldier's-Scoundrel'-by-Cat-Sebastian."
"Never heard of it. Read it to me?"
"It's-a-historical-romance. I-didn't-think-that-was-your-genre." I squeak.
"I don't care what genre. I just like being read too." Flynn whines.
"It's so weird to be hearing both parts of a conversation, but only un'erstand half of it." Eros butts in. "What book is he readin'? What genre? C'mon Flynn, I need the deets!"
I flush. As if it wasn't bad enough to have my boyfriend know, now my roommate would know and spread the word. I wince thinking of what certain classmates will say, namely Philip with his tendency to bully me.
"This is a secret hammock conversation, dude! If you aren't in this hammock; you're not part of the conversation! It's not my fault you can't understand your own roomie." Flynn responds without missing a beat. He puts his mouth on my ear and says "Whisper read?" before laying his head in my lap, unable to stay in one position for too long.
Marking my page, I turn back to the beginning and stammer through the first page. Eros' hammock stops jostling, and I can tell he's trying to listen in. In response I speak a little bit quieter, and quite a bit faster. I'm reading to my boyfriend, not hosting story hour afterall. After a furious internal debate, I place my fingers on Flynn's head, nestling into his hair. He jerks at the pressure, and I quickly pull away, unsure if I crossed a line somehow. Flynn's hand reaches above his head, grabbing my own. He gently guides it back to his head, nuzzling into it like a cat.
Its not long before Flynn's breathing changes. His head becomes heavy, pressing into my stomach. Now that he's asleep, I mark the page we were on. Careful not to wake him, I turn back to where I was, rocking at a slow, steady pace. My fingers swirl his gloriously soft hair. Twenty minutes of silent reading follow.
"Ya'll both still alive over there?" Eros calls.
"Shhhhh! Flynn's sleeping."
"What?" There's a loud clatter and Eros pops his face up at the base of my hammock.
"Did you just fall off the hammock?" I ask face slightly purple again.
"Technically yes, but who cares? Gimme your phone so I can snap a pic of Flynn sleepin' on you."
"On-what-planet-is-that-a-normal- statement?" My flush deepens and I pull my fingers out of Flynn's hair, resting them instead on his back, as if that could protect him from waking up or being photographed.
"Gonna assume you just said 'why would I want that?'" Eros smirks. "To which I say, Oh please. Like you ain't want one. Flynn's got one on his phone of you sleepin' on him. Think he set it as his back'round."
My face burns eggplant. "Flynn has a picture of me sleeping?" I struggle to keep my voice even.
"And snugglin' him. It's actually quite a cute picture, but now you can get a better one!"
"My phone's under him. Plus-I-don't-feel-right-taking-a-picture-of-him, at-least-without-his-consent."
"I'm gonna just figure you said no. Flynn's right, I really do need to learn how to understand your speed speech. Howev, I got no such qualms." Eros pulls out his phone. I hear a click. "You'll thank me later. Ooh! When you'se be getting married it can be part of your slideshow!"
"Married? I'm-not-ready-to-think-about-that. Can't-I-just-enjoy-the-beautiful-day?"
"So no clue what you said still, but judgin' by the incre'ible grape color your face be, gonna assume you're still extremely embarrassed by the fact that I ship you two and plan on furtherin' your romantic relationship."
"Thought shipping was for fictional characters, not real people." I respond, managing to get my voice slightly more even.
"Keep tellin' you'se self that." Eros taps the side of his nose and chuckles. "I gotta go talk to Jeremy about somethin'. I'll see you two love birds later." I swear I see him wink, before running off.
I'm very grateful that Flynn was asleep during this whole conversation. Then again, if he had been awake, there wouldn't have been a conversation. However, now I'm flustered.
In an attempt to calm down, I start tracing a phrase on Flynn's back. Mom used to do this to me when I was upset, or when I'd had a particularly bad bullying day. When she stopped doing it as much, I would do it on my leg, starting with the problem thought, then a positive counter argument, then just a repeated positive thought. It always helped calm me down.
'OUR FRIENDS THINK WE SHOULD MARRY.' I trace.
'LEGALLY WE CANT GET MARRIED YET, SO I NEEDN'T WORRY ABOUT IT.' There's the positive counter thought.
I hesitate. The only positive thought that I can think of is personal, and I'm not tracing the letters on my own leg.
"It'll be fine," my brain argues. "Flynn is asleep, and even if he were awake, his dyslexia would keep him from understanding."
My brain is right. Eros left, and Flynn, beautiful sleeping Flynn, wouldn't understand.
Fingers shaking, I trace the statement. 'I LOVE FLYNN.'
My finger steadies a bit. 'I LOVE FLYNN.'
It's coming easier now. 'I LOVE FLYNN. I LOVE FLYNN.'
Eros was always talking romantic nonsense. 'I LOVE FLYNN.'
Why should this be any different? 'I LOVE FLYNN. I LOVE FLYNN.'
By now I'm no longer shaking. 'I LOVE FLYNN. I LOVE FLYNN.'
I'm fairly calm and I can feel the blush leaving my cheeks. 'I LOVE FLYNN.'
Just a few more times to completely resettle myself. 'I LOVE FLYNN. I LOVE FLYNN.'
I take a deep breath and do it the final time. 'I LOVE FLYNN.'
I barely finish the second 'n' when Flynn sits up. I flush a tiny bit. "Did-I-wake-you-up? I'm-sorry."
Flynn doesn't answer, but he smiles. Silently, I watch as he puts his mouth next to my ear. "I love you too."
The whisper sends chills down my spine. The blush I thought had disappeared comes back full force. I stutter out some nonsense, unable to form a complete sentence.
"Did I not get it right? Ack that's so awkward! I thought you had spelt out I love Flynn, but now I just messed everything up. I'm sorry Will!" Flynn's normally chill demeanor is going up in smoke before me. His eyes are wide, and he looks spooked, but concerned. "Just forget I said anything."
"How-did-you-understand? I-thought-spelt-aloud/traced-words-were-super-hard-for-you."
"Hard, not impossible." Flynn stares at the ground, pouting . "It took a while, and apparently I got it wrong."
"I-never--" I take a deep breath, subconsciously tracing letters on my own leg now. "I never said you got it wrong."
"Wait, I was right!? You spelt on my back that you loved me?"
"I'm sorry. I thought you were asleep!"
"Nah I've been awake since Eros fell out of his hammock. You should've let him take a picture.. I don't mind.. Don't tell him, but I am in complete agreement with one other thing he said." Flynn's face is beaming, a smile splitting his face from one ear to another. "I ship us too."
"You were awake that whole time? Why didn't you let me know? I could've read to you again."
"But your lap was so warm, and it smelt nice. Plus I wanted to find out what message you were finger drawing on my back, and I'm so glad I did. You, Will, are amazing."
I flush hotter. "It-was-supposed-to-calm-me-down, not-actually-transmit-a-message."
"Doesn't make it any less true, I hope. And I meant my statement. I love you too." Flynn leans in close again. His eyes glimmer with mischief. In a few seconds we're snogging, and I close my eyes in delight. I can taste Flynn's smile, and I'm not sure I ever want to taste anything else.